A cleaning device of this type is known from the appliance of the Braun company sold under the name “Clean & Charge”. This cleaning device includes a housing into which the dry shaving apparatus is inserted for cleaning purposes. This involves receiving the shaving head of the shaving apparatus in a receptacle designed as a cleaning bath. The housing further accommodates a reservoir containing a cleaning fluid. To clean the shaving head the cleaning fluid is fed from this reservoir into the receptacle. In the receptacle the cleaning fluid is caused to contact the shaving head in order to remove the hair dust collected in the shaving head. From the receptacle the cleaning fluid flows back into the reservoir, entraining with it the removed hair dust. The principle of operation of such a cleaning device is known, for example, from DE 44 02 237 C2. Considering that the effect of the cleaning fluid weakens with the number of cleaning processes increasing, it is necessary to substitute fresh cleaning fluid after a certain number of cleaning cycles. For this reason, the reservoir for the cleaning fluid is of the replaceable type. To replace the cleaning fluid reservoir, the housing of the cleaning device is opened by means of a lift mechanism, enabling the previous reservoir to be removed and a reservoir containing fresh cleaning fluid to be substituted. For this purpose, the cleaning device is divided into a base plate and a chassis.
The chassis is comprised of a chassis plate and the chassis proper. The base plate has guides for the spiral springs, said spiral springs being biased towards the chassis plate with the cleaning device in closed condition. Through a button provided on the outside of the housing the locked relationship between chassis and base plate is canceled and the lift mechanism is activated. The three spiral springs are untensioned and lift the chassis, thereby releasing the cleaning fluid reservoir for replacement. After the reservoir is replaced, the chassis is pushed down against the base plate, locking onto it at the same time. With the downward movement of the chassis the spiral springs are tensioned. Owing to the long opening travel of the housing it is necessary for the spiral springs to have a long spring excursion. At the same time the spiral springs have to hold the chassis securely in open condition. This necessitates relatively high forces for closing the housing and simultaneously tensioning the spiral springs. Moreover, these forces have a particularly strong effect also in closed condition because the spiral springs have a progressive spring characteristic. This puts a considerable strain on the structure of the cleaning device. Furthermore, the abrupt beginning and the abrupt end of the opening movement at a stop is accompanied by loud noise. On account of the long spring excursion the spiral springs are guided. On actuation of the lift mechanism the spiral springs come into contact with the guides, which likewise leads to a not insubstantial noise level.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device with a lift mechanism that operates as smoothly as possible, develops minimum possible noise while being of straight-forward construction, and puts little strain on the structure of the cleaning device.